[It's only the next day when Sherlock appears in the house, all dudgeon against John forgotten, with a box in his hands. He's ready to perform some experiments before John loses his cat traits, Berit looking less enthusiastic as she pads in at his heels.]
John? Come here.
[He had better be in, it would be inconvenient for him if John wasn't.]
[If and when Sherlock heads over there, he'll find John curled up atop the blankets on his bed. He's clearly just been woken up from a catnap. He's stopped bothering with trying to hide his ears, tail, and eyes while in the house and just watches Sherlock. His ears flick back in irritation when he glances down at Berit, but this room is John's territory. She should know better than to act up or she'll be put out and have the door closed on her.]
[Oh, John, easily manipulated even when he's a cat.]
Berit's show of feline behaviour has made me curious how much of her is cat, and how much is Heart. How much does the form inform the behaviour, so to speak? I have a few traditionally cat oriented things, and I need a control subject for data gathering.
[John continues to stare at the other man, unblinking, for several seconds. He can't fault that particular logic, though, even if he's highly suspicious.]
So, you just want to wave a few cat toys around at a human? Yeah, all right. You want to do this in the living room, the lab, or the clinic?
[He's not sure if Sherlock wants any quantitative measurements to go with his qualitative observations.]
[Berit's ears flatten and her tail lashes as she follows Sherlock out of the room. The only reason she's not telling John what she already knows, that this is to test both of them, is because she believes that being forewarned will help her perform better than her current rival.
Sherlock gets out the blood pressure kit, a stethoscope, a stop watch, and a packet of fresh needles.]
[John hops up to sit on the nearest clear surface to where Sherlock has set up without much thinking about it and presents his arm without any fuss. His focus is on Berit. Look at him doing this without a fuss. He's the far superior assistant, thank you.]
People are gonna ask if you're a vampire one day, the amount of blood you ask for, y'know?
Boring, they should be asking if I'm a cannibal, considering the organs as well.
[He draws the blood quickly and expertly; he might not be a doctor, but he does know some things. He looks down at the cat, who presses herself under one of the nearby cabinets.]
Berit, don't be a coward, we've never been afraid of needles.
[There's some satisfaction watching the Heart cower. John just lounges back on one hand in his new spot, watching her, the challenge to her clear in the little smirk that continues to play about his lips and the aggressive tilt of his ears.]
You don't know how to cook; no one would ever suspect you of being a cannibal.
[John just snorts at that, not believing Sherlock for a moment.]
Sure.
[It's an easy enough task and John reports a healthy human blood pressure and pulse for Sherlock's records. This is a bit less suspicious than he was expecting, really. Nothing is too off for the moment. They'll see once the toys come out, though.]
[Berit mewls pitifully while she gets examined, and Sherlock looks discomforted when he finally puts her down and brings out the first toy - a laser pointer.]
Now, I want you both to stand in the middle of the room and behave as comes naturally.
[He flicks on the laser pointer and a little red dot appears on the opposite wall, jerking and swishing about like a tiny red insect. Berit remains still, but her tail lashes wildly.]
[This is nonsense, as far as he's concerned. Except when it isn't.
John finds himself tensing, eyes following the laser pointer. It's just a laser pointer. It's nothing a human would bother with, other than to roll their eyes. The tip of John's tail flicks back and forth.
It's perhaps half a minute of fighting with the instincts before the cat wins out. The doctor lunges for the frustratingly enticing dot of light. He'll try to cover it with his hand. If and when Sherlock moves it, John will follow after, chasing the light and making a very solid attempt at catching it. There's a small, human voice in the back of his head yelling that this is ridiculous and he needs to stop. Now. It's drowned out for the time being.]
[Sherlock marks down a result of thirty seven seconds before the cat instincts won out over the human one, and then a result of fifty nine seconds for Berit when she finally joins in the game to hunt the laser pointer.
He should turn it off now that he has that data, but this is far too amusing and he has time for the other experiments, so he starts to direct the little red dot to on top of furniture or up the curtains to see just how dexterous John can become with these instincts fuelling him.]
[John's balance is markedly improved thanks to his tail, but he's still a human in his late-thirties. It takes him about as long to mount the furniture as it might otherwise. There's no hesitation in the actions, though. His focus is singular for several minutes until he winds up pulling the curtains down on top of himself and Berit in a bid to get the light.
His tail fluffs up, and he darts away from that to hide. It's as he's crouching near a cabinet, panting lightly, that he realizes exactly what he's doing. When he does, there's embarrassment followed by anger. John stands, planting his hands on the counter and glaring at his friend.]
[Sherlock is outright laughing by the time Berit gets tangled up under some fallen curtains and John returns to his right mind by the cabinet. He doesn't reply for a moment, just setting down the laser pointer and making notes on the duration of the cat behaviour, the nature of it, and what seemed to be the trigger to returning to a human state of mind.
Only then does he turn back to John, still grinning widely.]
Seems a shame to stop now that we've started, don't you think? We might as well do it all now, or I'll simply get the results myself when you're not expecting it.
[Surely letting Sherlock experiment for an hour or so is a lesser evil than having to distrust everything handed to him for the next few days?]
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John? Come here.
[He had better be in, it would be inconvenient for him if John wasn't.]
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Not a dog, thanks.
[If and when Sherlock heads over there, he'll find John curled up atop the blankets on his bed. He's clearly just been woken up from a catnap. He's stopped bothering with trying to hide his ears, tail, and eyes while in the house and just watches Sherlock. His ears flick back in irritation when he glances down at Berit, but this room is John's territory. She should know better than to act up or she'll be put out and have the door closed on her.]
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[That's not true, but he's never been above lying to get his way. He's fairly sure this territorial streak will work to his advantage this time.]
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What is it? I'll help.
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Berit's show of feline behaviour has made me curious how much of her is cat, and how much is Heart. How much does the form inform the behaviour, so to speak? I have a few traditionally cat oriented things, and I need a control subject for data gathering.
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Wouldn't an actual cat be the control subject here?
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[He's not lying there, he might get a cat for this down the line.]
But she's also partially human, and so I would like the control to be someone who's behaviour I already know well.
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So, you just want to wave a few cat toys around at a human? Yeah, all right. You want to do this in the living room, the lab, or the clinic?
[He's not sure if Sherlock wants any quantitative measurements to go with his qualitative observations.]
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[Berit looks up, entirely unimpressed.]
Stick me with a needle and see what happens, Sherlock.
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It's just a needle. Don't be a kitten about it, love.
[He steps out of his room and around the other man to lead the way down to the lab.]
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Sherlock gets out the blood pressure kit, a stethoscope, a stop watch, and a packet of fresh needles.]
Arm please, John.
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People are gonna ask if you're a vampire one day, the amount of blood you ask for, y'know?
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[He draws the blood quickly and expertly; he might not be a doctor, but he does know some things. He looks down at the cat, who presses herself under one of the nearby cabinets.]
Berit, don't be a coward, we've never been afraid of needles.
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You don't know how to cook; no one would ever suspect you of being a cannibal.
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[No, he can't, but how hard can it be? It's just chemistry with other ingredients, easy.
He bends down and reaches to grab Berit and pull her out, she hisses unhappily, but she lets him draw blood this time.]
Good. John, if you could take your own blood pressure and pulse, while I do Berit?
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Sure.
[It's an easy enough task and John reports a healthy human blood pressure and pulse for Sherlock's records. This is a bit less suspicious than he was expecting, really. Nothing is too off for the moment. They'll see once the toys come out, though.]
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Now, I want you both to stand in the middle of the room and behave as comes naturally.
[He flicks on the laser pointer and a little red dot appears on the opposite wall, jerking and swishing about like a tiny red insect. Berit remains still, but her tail lashes wildly.]
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[This is nonsense, as far as he's concerned. Except when it isn't.
John finds himself tensing, eyes following the laser pointer. It's just a laser pointer. It's nothing a human would bother with, other than to roll their eyes. The tip of John's tail flicks back and forth.
It's perhaps half a minute of fighting with the instincts before the cat wins out. The doctor lunges for the frustratingly enticing dot of light. He'll try to cover it with his hand. If and when Sherlock moves it, John will follow after, chasing the light and making a very solid attempt at catching it. There's a small, human voice in the back of his head yelling that this is ridiculous and he needs to stop. Now. It's drowned out for the time being.]
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He should turn it off now that he has that data, but this is far too amusing and he has time for the other experiments, so he starts to direct the little red dot to on top of furniture or up the curtains to see just how dexterous John can become with these instincts fuelling him.]
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His tail fluffs up, and he darts away from that to hide. It's as he's crouching near a cabinet, panting lightly, that he realizes exactly what he's doing. When he does, there's embarrassment followed by anger. John stands, planting his hands on the counter and glaring at his friend.]
Sherlock...
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Only then does he turn back to John, still grinning widely.]
An excellent first experiment, shall we move on?
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[As galling as that is to admit. His ears are lying flat along his head and the tip of his tail continues to twitch.]
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[Utterly unrepentant.]
I'm surprised that you even believed that at all.
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[John moves to head for the door.]
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[Surely letting Sherlock experiment for an hour or so is a lesser evil than having to distrust everything handed to him for the next few days?]
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About an Hour and a Half Later
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we can call this a wrap or keep going if Sherlock and Berit would follow
a wrap is good for me